Author, nonprofit team up to combat bullying

Group needs help to fund graphic novel to help students

About 160,000 students nationwide skip school every day because of bullying, according to statistics, and Maryland is no exception. That's why a nonprofit organization has teamed up with a local author to create a unique and visual tool to help try to stop bullying.

M.T. Pitt is the main character in the new, yet-to-be-named graphic novel. Pitt gets bullied at his middle school because of his weight. The story details with how he gets through it.

"What we try to show in the book is a slow rebuilding of M.T. Pitts' character over time. He doesn't necessarily get over the fact that he's overweight and unhappy about that process, but what he does get over is he finds strength inside himself," explained Baltimore author and illustrator Jonathan Scott Fuqua.

The book is the brainchild of Fuqua and the nonprofit group Healthy Teen Network. Once the work is complete, they said they're hoping to provide it to middle school students in Baltimore City.

"What our plan is is to provide each school with a bundle of books, along with a teacher's guide so the teachers can use the books in the classroom and really encourage the use and encourage the kids to read them and take them home," explained Kelly Connelly of the Healthy Teen Network.

They hope to have a completed project within the next month and be ready for distribution in the fall. They chose a graphic novel to really capture the students' attention.

"Graphic novels are huge these days, and the reason they're huge is this entire generation has been brought up on imagery. If you think about the computer, the computer is nothing but visuals, you know. It has a smattering of writing, but a lot of visuals. This generation is used to that," Fuqua said.

They hope students will get into the story and really take the message to heart, recognizing the problem with bullying and learning how they can stop it if they are the victim.

"We present this character who is very sympathetic. People can identify with him or with other characters in the book, and I think the kids will really latch onto that and really maybe see bullying in a different way and think twice about it," Connelly said.

The group has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to produce the book. They've got 10 days to raise more than $8,000. To contribute, click on the link above.